Patrick Altemeier, age 13, of Biloxi, Miss., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST "OSCAR" AWARDED?
Special awards of merit called Academy Awards are presented each year by an organization called the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The statuette presented to winners is known as an Oscar. The first Oscar was awarded for 1927 28. Oscar is 10 inches high and weighs seven pounds. The statuette is gold plated bronze in the form of a human figure. It was designed by an American sculptor named George Stanley.
The Academy, headquartered in Hollywood, Calif., has about 3,000 members drawn from the performing, technical and administrative branches of the motion picture industry. Membership eligibility depends on the requirements of a given branch of the Academy. Although membership is open to filmmakers in other countries, the Academy has generally been connected with the United States film industry. T
The Academy was founded for the purpose of raising the cultural and technical standards of professional filmmaking. Academy Award categories include best picture; performance by an actor; performance by an actress; performance by an actor in a supporting role (since 1936); performance by an actress in a supporting role (since 1936); achievement in direction; screenplay based on material not originally written for the screen; and original screenplay. Awards are also presented for art direction; cinematography; costume design; set decoration; film editing; sound achievement; sound effects; song; original music score; score of a musical picture; live action short subject; cartoon short subject; documentary feature; documentary short subject; special visual effects; best make up design (since 1982); and best foreign language film (since 1956). Winner of an Oscar as best picture in the 1927 28 race was "Wings." Janet Gaynor won the best actress award and best actor honors went to Emil Jannings
In addition to the acting and technical awards, various special or honorary awards are often given for professional humanitarian achievement. The entire Academy membership participates in voting for the annual Academy Awards of Merit. In each "best" award category, a maximum of five entrants are first nominated by the Academy members in that particular field. From among these nominees the entire Academy then makes its final vote on secret ballots. One hour of the 1928 29 awards ceremony was broadcast on the radio. The entire ceremony was broadcast from 1944 through 1969. Television broadcasts of the ceremony, beginning in 1953, have become a popular event, attracting large audiences. The Academy supports technical research, maintains a library of film books and magazines and a complete archive of film production. It also issues bulletins of credits, containing the records of producers, actors, writers, directors and others for production office use.